Improvement in clock-striking mechanisms



H. W. PORTER. Clock-Striking Mechanism.

No. 203,333. Paten'fed Sept. 24,1373.

Fig.1. Fig. Z.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHLR. wAsmNGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY \V. PORTER, OF FORESTVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOCK-STRIKING MECHANiSMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,333, datedSeptember 24, 1878 1 application filed August 27, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY IV. PORTER, of Forestville, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clocks; and Ido hereby declare the following to beafull, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and useit, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis sy'iecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in clocks, the object being toprovide a time clock-movement with a cheap, simple, and effectivestriking mechanism, that shall be capable of being adjusted to strikeevery hour or fraction of an hour; and to this end my inventionconsists, first, in the combination, with the center shaft of atimemovement having a collet or disk attached thereto, which latter isprovided with any desired number of pins or studs of varying length, ofa sliding strikeshaft, provided with a lift and means for regulating thelongitudinal adjustment of the strikeshaft, whereby the lift may besecured in proper position to be raised once or any desired number oftimes while the center shaft is making a complete revolution.

My invention further consists in the several details of construction andcombinations of parts, as will more fully appear from the followingdescription and claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of aclock-movement embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows the back of themovement with a portion of the frame back plate cut away to more clearlyillustrate the relative positions of the several parts of the strikingattachment. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detached views of the center shaftand sliding strike-shaft, the latter in its diiferent positions forstriking every hour, half-hour, and quarter-hour. Fig. 7 is a plan viewof the back of the clock. Fig. 8 is a modification.

A represents the center or minute hand shaft of an ordinary timeclock-movement. B is a collet or disk, rigidly secured to shaft A. Tothe face of the collet are secured the liftpins a b c c. The lift-pin ais the longest of the series, and is designed to raise the lift C on thesliding strikeshaft D, and thus cause the clock to strike once everyhour. Pin Z) is slightly shorter than lift-pin a, and is secured to thecollet B at a point diametrically opposite the pin a,- and hence, whenthe sliding strike-shaft D is longitudinally adjusted, so that the liftC will be raised by the lift-pin b, then lift C will be raised twice forevery revolution of the center shaft and the clock caused to strikeevery half-hour, by reason of the fact that when the striking mechanismis adjusted for operation lift-pin a will raise the lift C once forevery revolution of the center shaft. Now by moving the lift C to such aposition that it will also be raised by the lift-pin 1*, which islocated diametrically opposite liftpin a, it follows that the lift Cwill be raised twice for every complete revolution of the center shaft,and thus the clock caused to strike every halfhour of the day. 0 c areshort liftpins, located diametrically opposite each other, andequidistant from the pins a b. By moving the lift C laterally, so thatit will come in line and-be raised by the pins 0 c, the lift will besuccessively raised by the pins to b c c during each revolution of thecenter shaft, thus causing the clock to strike every fifteen minutes.

The striking mechanism may be entirely disconnected from the timemechanism, and hence remain inactive, by moving the lift away fromcollet and out of range of the longest lift-pin, a. 7

As heretofore stated, the strike shaft is adapted to be adjustedlongitudinally in order to carry the lift C to the desired point ofadjustment. To accomplish this result, the strike-shaft D is providedwith extended piv otal bearings d c. The rear pivot, d, rests against aface-cam or spiral, E, which turns on a pin or stud, f, attached to therear clockframe, F. To the rear face of the cam E is attached a pin, G,which projects through the back H of the clock-case, and hasa pointer,I, secured thereto by a washer, g, and pin 71, or by any equivalentmeans. A dial, J, is stamped or attached to the back of the clock-caseand the numerals 0 l 2 4 indicated thereon.

A spiral spring, K, surrounds the strike shaft, one end being attachedto the lift ,0, while the other end projects outwardly and rests withina groove, 6, in the clock-pillar L. A stop-pin, m, is attached to thefront plate, M, and projects toward the end coil of the spiral spring,and serves as a stop to compress the spring in length, and thus forcethe rear pivotal bearing of the strike-shaft against the cam, and keepit in contact therewith.

It will be observed that the spiral spring K serves a double function.It operates to impart sufficient rotary action to the strike-shaft tocause the hammer N to strike the bell O with the desired force to soundthe bell, and again it imparts a longitudinal motion to the strike-shaftand keeps it in direct contact with the adjusting-cam.

When only a single lift-pin, a, is attached to the collet on the centershaft, and thus the clock only adapted to strike once every hour, theextreme end of the lift 0, which is made of thin steel, may be bent atan incline, as represented in Fig.8, and enable the center shaft to beturned backward without disturbing the striking attachment. Whenconstructed in the manner last described, the end of the pin a willstrike the inclined portion a of the lift and force it laterally fromthe pathway of the pin, thus enabling the center shaft to be turned ineither direction without injuring the striking attachment.

Fig. 3 represents the relative positions of adjusting-cam, slidingstrike-shaft, lift 0, and center shaft when the striking mechanism isthrown out of engagement with the time-movement. This is effected byturning the cam so that the lift may be forced laterally beyond the lineof travel of the extreme end of pin a, whereby the several pinson thecenter shaft will not come in contact with the lift, and hence thestriking mechanism will, under such conditions, remain inactive.

Fig. 4 represents the relative position of the severalparts when thestriking mechanism is adjusted to strike once every hour. In this caseit will be observed that the cam is adjusted to force the sliding shaftlongitudinally against the force of the spiral spring a sufiicientdistance to cause the lift 0 to be raised by the end of the hourlift-pin a.

Fig. 5 represents the position of the parts when the striking mechanismis adjusted to operate once every half-hour, the cam being turned asufficient distance to move the lift 0 and cause it to be actuated bythe pins a 1) during each revolution of the center shaft.

Fig. 6 shows .the relative position of the several parts above notedwhen the strike mechanism is arranged to operate every fifteen minutes,the lift 0 being adjusted so as to be raised by the pins a, b, c, and aduring each revolution of the center shaft.

My improvement is adapted to be applied to any of the ordinary timeclock-movements, either marine or pendulum clocks, and at a smallinitial cost. One important and valuable feature of the improvement isthat it requires no additional space for its attachment, and may beembodied in a small clock which is provided with a tight-fitting case.

The adjustment of the striking mechanism is easily regulated, and thereis little or no liability of disarranging any of the parts of the clockor striking attachment.

It is evident that slight changes may be made both in details ofconstruction and arrangement of the several parts without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, and hence I do not limit myself to the exactconstruction shown and described-as, for instance, the lift-pins may beattached to the center shaft in various ways, as by drilling through thecenter shaft and fastening pins thereto, the ends of the pins beingflattened or bent parallel with the shaft; or they may be formed like acut pinion, with teeth of variable width; or they may be attached to asliding collar or pinion adapted to be adjusted on the center shaft, andin such case the strike-shaft need not be adjusted longitudinally, ashereinbefore described. The pins may also be fastened to a wheel made torevolve once in every hour, two hours, or more, thus enabling thestriking mechanism to be adjusted to strike everytwo hours, or atgreater intervals of time.

The dial for setting the strike mechanism may be formed on the front ofthe case instead of on the back.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the center shaft of a time clock-movementhaving a lift-pin combined therewith, of a lift attached to alongitudinally-adj ustable strike-shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the center shaft of a time-movement having oneor more lift-pins combined therewith, of a lift attached to a slidingstrike-shaft and a cam for regulating the longitudinal adjustment of thelatter, substantially as set forth..

3. The combination, with the center shaft'of a time-movement, of acollet attached to the shaft, said collet having one or more liftpinssecured thereto, and a lift attached to longitudinally adjustable strikeshaft, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the center shaft of if V a time-movementprovided with a collet having two lift-pins attached theretodiametrically opposite each other, of a lift attached to a longitudinally-adj ustable strike-shaft, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the center shaft of a time-movement having acollet attached thereto which is provided with four lift-pins locatedequidistant from each other, of a lift attached to alongitudinally-adjustable strikeshaft, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with a strike-shaft provided with elongated pivots,of a face-cam and a spring for retaining one of the strikeshaft pivotson said cam, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with a strike-sh aft provided with elongated pivots,of a face-cam and a spiral spring surrounding the strikeshaft, andadaptedto impart both longitudinal and rotary motion to thestrike-shaft, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with a strike-shaft constructed with elongatedpivots, and a spring for imparting both rotary and longitudinal movementto the same, of a face-cam adapted to serve as an end bearing for one ofthe pivots of the shaft, said cam having a pointer connected therewith,and an indicating-dial formed on the back of the clock-case,substantially asset forth.

9. The combination, with a cam for imparting longitudinal movement to astrikeshaft, of a pointer and indicating-dial, substantially as setforth.

10. The combination, with one or more liftpins connected with the timemechanism of a clock-movement, of a strikingshaft, the parts adapted tobe relatively adjusted so that the strike mechanism can be thrown eitherin or out of engagement with the time mechan sm, substantially as setforth.

11. The combination, with the center shaft of a time clock-movement andlift-pins connected therewith, of a striking-shaft adapted to beadjusted relatively to said lift-pins to cause the strike mechanism tooperate at any desired intervals of time, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination, with two or more hitpins of varying lengthsconnected with and moved by the time mechanism of a clockmovement, of astriking shaft, said parts adapted to be relatively adjusted so that thestrike mechanism may be operated at different intervals of time,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this21st day of August, 1878.

HENRY W. PORTER. Witnesses:

CHARLES \V. BROWN, DAN. A, l\[ILLER.

